Background

The GCF Knowledge Database provides an open,
web-based source of information from individual
GCF member states and provinces on current status
and trends regarding land use and deforestation;
forest carbon accounting efforts and
methodologies; REDD implementation activities;
and REDD related financial flows. The database
will be updated on a regular basis as new
information becomes available, and will seek to
be fully transparent with respect to all sources
of information.

The GCF Knowledge Database grew out of a needs
assessment process initiated by the GCF states
and provinces in 2009. Special thanks to Luis
Meneses, LeRoy Hollenbeck, Tobias Garritt,
Mariana Pavan, Odigha Odigha, James Davie, Avi
Mahaningtyas, and John O. Niles for their help
in collecting information for the database. The
construction of the GCF Knowledge Database was
made possible by generous support from the Gordon
& Betty Moore Foundation, the ClimateWorks
Foundation, and the Climate & Land Use
Alliance.

All references are cited in the database
alongside the associated information. Where no
citation is given for information provided, the
source is the GCF state and province database
submissions available at www.gcftaskforce.org.

Navigating and Using the Database

The GCF Knowledge Database is organized by
country for national-level information and by
state or province for subnational information.
All of these pages are accessible from the "GCF
States & Provinces" tab.

Home Page

The global overview page-located on the "Home"
page-provides a comparison of forest cover and
forest carbon stocks in all of the GCF states and
provinces. The "Forest Cover" tab displays a map
showing the geographic boundaries of the GCF
member states and provinces. For tropical member
states, current forest cover area statistics are
provided. The "Forest Carbon Stocks" tab displays
a map of aboveground biomass density in the
tropics, with aboveground forest carbon totals
per state or province provided. These statistics
do not always coincide with the corresponding
values for current forest area and carbon stocks
cited on the respective state or province pages,
as the data sources differ. On the global
comparison page, data are derived from global
data sets for internal consistency and
comparability among the states. On the state and
province pages, data are provided by the
respective state or province according to methods
adopted by the state or province and described in
the state or province's respective page.

National Pages

The country pages provide general demographic
information and an overview of REDD+ activities
at the national level, including deforestation
trends, laws, policies, institutions, and
financing, as well as a snapshot of subnational
REDD+ activities and progress.

State/Province Pages

The state and province pages are organized as
follows:

Overview

The Overview tab
provides a range of statistics relevant to REDD
program development in each state or province.
One section summarizes each state or province's
demographic and economic situation. Another
section provides an overview of each state or
province's forest cover, including the amount and
percent of forest cover, the proportion of forest
by protection level or administrative status is
provided, deforestation trends, drivers of
deforestation, and overall forest carbon stocks.
Contacts for state or province officials
responsible for the jurisdiction's REDD program
are also provided. Information is provided by
state or province officials and updated
annually.

Carbon Accounting

The Carbon
Accounting tab is organized into 5 sub-sections,
beginning with a summary of total carbon stocks
and IPCC measurement status (Carbon Accounting
Summary). The next section, Reference Levels and
Targets, the official state deforestation and
avoided emissions targets are listed. The
Deforestation Dynamics Monitoring and Degradation
Dynamics Monitoring sections provide details on
the causes of deforestation and degradation,
respectively. Both of these sections and the
Forest Carbon Stocks Quantification sections
provide details of the monitoring methodologies
used for each objective and the needs identified
by the state or province regarding monitoring.
Information is provided by the state or province
and is updated annually at a minimum.

REDD Implementation

The REDD
Implementation tab is divided into 2 main
sections. First, REDD program progress within
categories of initiatives relevant to each
country. The next section describes the details
of each state or province's REDD program as well
as the social and environmental safeguards that
are developed or implemented for each REDD
program. Information is provided by the state or
province and is updated annually at a
minimum.

Financing

The Financing tab
provides an overview of funding flowing into the
state or province for REDD-related actions,
including all jurisdiction-wide and project-based
activities. For jurisdiction-wide REDD Program
development, data on national, state or province,
and other funding sources (including private
investment and multi-lateral sources) is
provided. For projects, details regarding project
status, implementation period, targets, standards
(carbon accounting and environmental and social),
funding partners, and beneficiaries is provided.
Information is updated annually at a minimum, and
as changes in activities and funding require.
These data are obtained from the state and
province as well as from a variety of other
sources (including some sources described in the
section "Climate Change and REDD+ Financing"
below).

Audits & Reviews

The GCF
Knowledge Database will provide links to relevant
audits and reviews of REDD related activities in
GCF states and provinces. In addition to making
this information available as part of the
database, the information generated through
relevant audits and reviews will be used to
update and improve the quality of the information
in the database and to provide feedback to GCF
states and provinces as they move forward in
developing programs to reduce emissions from land
use and deforestation.

Registry

Currently, the
Registry tab is provided as a placeholder for
states and provinces that decide to develop a
registry for the issuance, registration, and
tracking of credits for emissions reductions from
their REDD+ activities.

Climate Change and REDD+ Financing

Since the UNFCCC COP-15 Copenhagen climate change
negotiations in 2009, donors have pledged an
estimated $31 billion dollars for mitigation and
adaptation in the period 2010 to 2012. These
funds, known as Fast Start Funds or Fast Start
Finance (FSF), are being tracked by various
organizations and efforts.

These pledged FSF funds include an estimated
$4.24 billion in REDD+ FSF pledged by donors
(data current as of August 2011). For REDD+ FSF,
the most important source of information is the
REDD+ Partnership's Voluntary REDD+ Database.
This database, compiled by the REDD+ Partnership
from donor governments, is the most authoritative
source of information for how much money has been
pledged by donors for REDD+. The database has
compiled information on 35 countries, covering
471 separate arraignments. Recipient (developing)
nations have also submitted information to the
REDD+ Partnership on needs for FSF REDD+
financing.

In addition to information compiled by the REDD+
Partnership, other organizations are tracking FSF
for climate mitigation and adaptation and REDD+.
The Overseas Development Institute's Climate
Funds Update website provides more detail on a
range of FSF funds, and how many dollars have
been pledged, deposited, approved and dispersed.
The Climate Funds Update is tracking at least 6
REDD+ related funds, including the Amazon Fund,
the Congo Basin Forest Fund, the International
Forest Carbon Initiative and several multilateral
funds. As of August 2011, the Climate Funds
Update website of dedicated REDD+ funds shows
just over $2.5 billion pledged for REDD+, just
under $1 billion deposited in accounts, and
around $250 million pledged and dispersed.

In addition to the REDD+ Partnership Voluntary
Database and the Climate Funds Update
information, several other organization are
bringing transparency to tracking REDD+ funds.
The REDD Desk country pages database has begun
tracking REDD+ finance in 7 pilot countries
(Brazil, Cameroon, Vietnam, Guyana, Sri Lanka,
Mexico, Lao PDR) and has plans to track
additional countries in coming months. Forest
Trends has begun tracking REDD+ finance once it
arrives in a country and the Tropical Forest
Group is tracking United States REDD+ funds,
looking back in time for fiscal years 2008 and
2009, and then will be monitoring REDD+ finance
from US agencies in the fast start period. In
general, all of the REDD+ FSSF tracking efforts
show substantial pledges by donors for REDD+
during the 2010 to 2012 period, however, only a
fraction of the pledged funds have begun making a
difference in countries, communities and forests.

Moving forward, the GCF database will also
attempt to bring transparency to the REDD+ funds
pledged, deposited, allocated, and dispersed in
member states and provinces.